Charlize Theron Is the Villain in Fast & Furious 8

After nearly two months of speculation, actress Charlize Theron has officially joined the cast of Universal's Fast & Furious 8. Variety reports that the actress is expected to play a villain, which falls in line with the first report that surfaced in early February, but no details about this character have been released. Production is expected to begin soon, with shooting scheduled to take place in New York, Atlanta, Cuba, Iceland and Russia.

Charlize Theron was initially approached in February, but since the script by Chris Morgan hadn't been completed yet, the Oscar-winning actress didn't want to commit to the project until the screenplay was done. Even after the script met with her approval, she still had some scheduling complications to work out, since she signed on to star in Sony's spy thriller entitled The Gray Man back in October. However, since the script was initially written for a male lead, rewrites were ordered, opening up a slot in Charlize Theron's schedule that allowed her to join Fast & Furious 8.